Uganda gets $190m for road improvement

Uganda has received a loan of $190 million (£118.9 million) from the World Bank to improve its transport sector.

Kundavi Kadiresan, the bank's Uganda manager, said upgrading the north-eastern corridors to southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo would have a number of positive effects.

As the programme includes the establishment of a national road safety authority to set regulations, the plan is also expected to improve security on the highways in addition to improving connectivity, New Vision reported.

Some $190 million is going to the transport sector and another $38 million will be used to improve farming and agriculture as part of the same loan.

Improving road infrastructure in the country was recently cited as a prerequisite to fulfilling Uganda's potential as Africa's top investment destination by the Standard Chartered Bank.

The Observer published part of the organisation's recent report suggesting that following "substantial upfront infrastructure costs" that improved the transport network, the country could end its dependence on donor aid thanks to oil revenue.